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Monday, July 25, 2016

July 25, 2016--A Quick Run Around the Web

Firearms/Self-Defense:

"Why the German #4 Still Rocks"--The New Rifleman. The author writes about the versatility of the German #4 scope reticle (see above: thick bars on the left, right and bottom, with thinner reticle lines at the center and from the top), and then demonstrates how many popular reticles on illuminated scopes are so fine that they are pretty much useless should you lose the illumination in the scope.

"Magpul Teases Sub-Compact 12 Rd. GL9 Glock Magazine"--The Firearms Blog. Magpul already produces magazines for the Glock 17 and 19 models of pistol, and now it appears that they will be releasing magazines for the Glock 26. I'm interested, if somewhat cautious. I had purchased one of Magpul's 17-rounders for evaluation, and it is not very reliable on feeding the last round or locking the slide back after the last round. I have purchased a second example to see if it is just a problem with the particular example I had purchased.

"Guns vs. The Environment"--Active Response Training. I respect people that are open about mistakes in order to provide a lesson to others. Greg Ellifritz admits to a couple incidents where he neglected maintenance on firearms that resulted in the firearm not being able to function. These are mistakes that anyone can make, and will make given enough time. The lesson is to periodically check your firearms, especially if you are going to be using it for a carry weapon.

In a pile of documents left behind at the G-20 meetings was one with the title of being a "zero draft" of the leaders’ communique for the summit in Hangzhou Sept. 4-5, and it included some stark language: "The world economy stands at a crossroads," the paper dated July 15 said. "We will work to build an open world economy, reject protectionism, promote global trade and investment, ensuring broad-based public support for expanded growth in a globalized economy."

"On Free Trade"--Jerry Pournelle. He argues that free trade is not conservative, writing:

The advantages of Free Trade are lower prices for stuff. That means they are more cheaply produced. As the economist David Ricardo wrote, there is a principle of comparative advantage that coupled with free trade guarantees maximum profits for when there are no trade restrictions, and impediments to free trade are supposed to be mutually disadvantageous.

But do understand, what is conserved is lower prices. Nor social stability. Not communities. Not family life. Indeed those are often disrupted; it’s part of the economic model. Under free trade theory, it’s better to have free trade than community preservation, better to have ghost towns of people displaced because their jobs have been shipped overseas; better to have Detroit as a wasteland than a thriving dynamic industrial society turning out tail finned Cadillacs and insolent chariots and supporting workers represented by rapacious unions in conflict with pitiless corporate executives.

I would point out that what is commonly described as "free trade," is not free trade--at least not in the sense of free trade in the face of comparative advantages. The principle of comparative advantage can be shown with an example from history. For a fairly long period of time before the industrial age, Spain produced the best steel in Europe and, possibly, the world. Because of this, many historical swords would have blades made in Spain, after which the blades would then be exported to other countries, where pommels, grips, and guards would be added as was preferred in that particular locale. England, during the same period, was a prime producer and exporter of textiles, especially wool. Thus, free trade would dictate that the best outcome for Spain and England would be for each to produce those goods on which they had a comparative advantage (sword blades and wool textiles, respectively) rather than for England to attempt to produce and sell sword blades and Spain to produce and sell woolen textiles. What is missing from this example is Spain or England exporting their technology and knowledge which provided them a comparative advantage to a third country (say, China), so that China could produce steel blades and textiles cheaper than either Spain or England. The latter example is what we have today: knowledge, technology and expertise being exported and destroying the United States' comparative advantage. That is globalism, not free trade.

The Dec. 9 attack that left Bheri Werntz seriously injured was part of a month-long series of shootings, robberies, carjackings and at least one killing that authorities across Los Angeles County attribute to Artyom Gasparyan, a 32-year-old with an extensive criminal record. Police launched an around-the-clock search that ended when detectives shot and wounded Gasparyan after a wrong-way chase on the 5 Freeway in early January.

Detectives have since widened their investigation into Gasparyan, linking him to at least one other homicide case, according to court records. The documents also show and that authorities missed earlier opportunities to keep him behind bars before December’s bloody rampage.

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This is a blog discussing disaster preparation and survival, especially in light of end time prophecy. It also examines political and other events as they may relate or bear on end time prophecy or the practice of survivalism and/or prepping. The contents of this blog are intended for entertainment and/or academic purposes only. Please consult with a professional or expert before implementing or using any ideas or techniques discussed or presented in this blog.

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